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Local governments are established by the government of Florida and are given varying amounts of non-exclusive authority over their jurisdictions. The law governing the creation of these governments is contained both within the Florida Constitution and
Florida Statutes The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
. Local governments are incorporated in Florida by special acts of the Florida Legislature. There are four types of local governments in Florida: counties, municipalities, school districts, and special districts.Dye, T.R., Jewett, A. & MacManus, S.A. (2007) ''Politics in Florida''. Tallahassee: John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government. In some cases, the municipal and county governments have merged into a consolidated government. However, smaller municipal governments can be created inside of a consolidated municipality/county. In
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, the municipal government has taken over the responsibilities normally given to the county government, Duval County, and smaller municipalities exist within it. Both counties and cities may have a legislative branch (commissions or councils) and executive branch (mayor or manager) and local police, but violations are brought before a county court. Counties and municipalities are authorized to pass laws (ordinances), levy taxes, and provide public services within their jurisdictions. All areas of Florida are located within a county, but only some areas have been incorporated into municipalities. All municipalities are located within a county and the county jurisdiction overlays the municipal jurisdiction. Usually, if there is a conflict between a county ordinance and a municipal ordinance, the municipal ordinance has precedence within the municipality's borders; however, the overlaying county's ordinances have precedence if the overlaying county has been designated a charter county by the Florida Legislature:) Counties and municipalities may create community development agencies which may take part of the money from taxes on increases in property values from their area of interest. They then use the money received in reinvestment (improvements) in the area. Local government is not required to pay for health care insurance for government retirees. As of 2010, none do. In 2011, researchers at Florida State University said that Florida's cities and counties have promised pensions they cannot afford. Pension obligations constituted 8% of total spending by local governments in 2009.


Counties

Florida consists of 67
counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, with most of Florida's counties named for local or national political leaders. Some are named for
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
explorers or
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
s, marking the influence of 200 years of Spanish rule. Natural features of the region, including rivers, lakes, and flora, are also commonly used for county names. Florida has counties named for participants on both sides of Second Seminole War: Miami-Dade County is partially named for
Francis L. Dade Francis Langhorne Dade (1793? – December 28, 1835) was a Brevet Major (United States), Major in the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, during the Second Seminole War. Dade was killed in a battle with Seminole Indians that came t ...
, a Major in the U.S. Army at the time; Osceola County is named for a Native American resistance leader during the war. Each county has officers considered "state" officers, which are elected locally, their offices and salaries paid locally, but who can be removed or replaced by the governor, and not locally. These are the Sheriff, State Attorney, Public Defender,
Tax Collector A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations. The term could also be applied to those who audit tax returns. Tax collectors are often portrayed as being evil, and in the modern wo ...
, County Clerk, a county Appraiser who established the value of real estate for tax purposes, and county judges. Each sheriff operates under Florida Statute 30.15. By State Law there is one school district comprising each of the counties in Florida. To provide liquidity to counties when tax bills are not paid, Florida operates under the
tax lien sale A tax sale is the forced sale of property (usually real estate) by a governmental entity for unpaid taxes by the property's owner. The sale, depending on the jurisdiction, may be a tax deed sale (whereby the actual property is sold) or a tax li ...
process, whereby liens are sold for the amount of back taxes, interest, and costs. In Florida, bidders bid on the rate of interest (beginning at 18%) they will accept; the bidder offering the lowest rate is awarded the tax lien certificate. Once a lien has been outstanding for approximately 22 months (technically, April 1 of the second year following the year when the tax lien was originally offered for sale), the tax lien holder may petition the circuit court (via the county tax collector) to begin the process for the tax deed sale of the property.


Municipalities

Municipalities in Florida may be called
towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
,
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, or
villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
, but there is no legal distinction between the different terms. Municipalities often have police departments, fire departments, and provide essential services such as water, waste collection, etc. In unincorporated areas of a county, the county itself provides these services. Municipalities may also enter agreements with the county to have the county provide certain services. Each county has a sheriff who also tends to have concurrent jurisdiction with municipal police departments.


School districts

There is one school district for each county; the
Florida Constitution The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure, and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitu ...
allows adjoining counties to merge their districts upon voter approval. The superintendent is by default an elected official; however, the Florida Constitution allows county voters to make the position an appointed one.


Special districts

Among special districts are "community development districts" which have virtually all the power of a city or county (except, notably, they do not have police power). Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes governs these districts. Notable CDD's include the
Reedy Creek Improvement District The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is the governing jurisdiction and special taxing district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort. It includes within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida. It acts with the sa ...
(the location of
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
) and substantially all of The Villages (the giant Central Florida retirement community). Many counties have a "Soil and Water Conservation District," a residue of
Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...
politics. Elected officials are unpaid. Much of their budget is spent on engineering staff. Critics are trying to dismantle these districts, as being obsolete.


References

{{United States topic , title =
Local government in the United States Local government in the United States refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state. Most states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Al ...
, prefix = Local government in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...